Managing Work Stress Understanding the Basics
Found your job stressful? Want to look for a new one, something that is less stressing? Well, in today’s highly competitive world, it would be difficult for everybody to find a job that is less demanding. Every company expects the best from their workers, and knowing this expectation in the first place may bother you to a certain degree. You are left to do the best that you can to help the company grow, plus you have
the responsibility to deal with your coworkers to the friendliest way possible. Worst is that, with all the possibilities of hectic schedules, you may go home one day without the energy you’ll need to bear for another challenge waiting for you at home. You may even go back to work still lacking that factor that allows you to work actively, and this will definitely undermine your work performance which in turn is costly for the employers.
Having said all that, every person working on the corporate world is required to do something that can help eliminate the bothering symptoms of stress. Although others see it as a booster, too much of it may cause you to feel weak, tired, and fatigued. It may even lead to illness if left uncontrolled. But the problem is that how to start fighting against work stress? What are the most important things to do to at least reduce the stress caused by everyday work? The good news is that there are a lot of ways actually. The most vital so far is the task of knowing the basics of work stress.
Learning the basics of work stress, including its causes and effects, is an essential move to take especially for beginners simply for the reason that it gives you the bird’s eye view of what you are fighting against with. It will help you understand why work stress occurs, and how victims of it feel every time it attacks. Best of all, it will help you realize the best moves to take to reduce or eliminate stress.So can’t wait to know these stress busting techniques? Makenote of the following details first.
Work Stress, Defined!
Workplace stress, as what other people call it, is something that is not new to everybody. It is no new phenomenon as every person working in the corporate world experiences it. Many respond to it in a positive way knowing that stress allow them to strive or work hard to meet production targets.It also allows them to develop new skills that would be beneficial for them and for the company’s sake. At the end of the day, after tension is released, workers often find themselves in a relaxed state where everything is so fine.The bad thing is that, the stress you may feel at work can turn to be too aggressive and overwhelming that it may slow your productivity.The tension may even remain constant and you’ll find no more time to relax even just for a second.If this continues for a longer period, the worst may happen and that you may find yourself not able to work properly and interact with your coworkers. You may even suffer from certain illnesses, and this definitely is no big joke.
Simply put, work stress develops when certain situation such as these mentioned below happens:
•When the demands and challenges that people in the corporate world are constantly meeting are becoming excessive.
•Work satisfaction is becoming exhausting and even frustrating.
•When people working in a company are left with duties that are too hard to handle.
As mentioned, work stress happens when the normal line of work involved in a particular workplace fall into becoming excessive. Both the emotional and physical responses are triggered here and this means harmful to the employers and the workers alike.
Work Stress Causing Factors
As you may have been told, there are a number of factors that may lead to work stress. The most common stressors so far are the following:
•Change in the Workplace – This factor may mean different for each company. But as what most researches have revealed, the most common are frequent turnover of job personnel, poor chances for promotion and advancement, lack of technological developments inside the workplace, fear of layoff, and tensions caused by the diversity of a large workspace.
•Physical Environment – The quality of the environment a person is working at may also trigger work stress to develop. Examples of these are poor air quality, noise, overcrowding, safety and health risks, and ergonomic difficulties.
•Interpersonal Relationships – How the people are dealing with each other inside a working area can also trigger stress development. The most common factors that may allow work stress to occur are harassment, bullying, subordinates’ poor performances, uncommunicative or distant supervisors, workers being away from their families, and competition and sorts of politics inside the office.
•Organizational Practices – Under this work stress or are the following factors: a number of people supervising a work team, job demands that are conflicting, communication patterns that are ineffective, unclear expectations and responsibilities, lack of family-friendly rules and policies, as well as lack of participation in decision making. All of these can trigger stress in the workplace to develop into something negative.
•Other Work Factors – What further triggers excessive stress to develop in a workplace are sporadic rest breaks, workload that is naturally excessive, performance demands that are unreasonable, long working hours and low compensation, meaningless and pressuring duties or tasks.If any of these above mentioned factors occur in a particular working area, then expect the workers to feel tired and bothered every end of the day.
Signs of Work Stress
Stress manifests in a number of symptoms or signs. Some are visible, while others are not. Well, the idea behind this is that emotional and physical problems are somehow related with workplace stress. If you want to know the early signs of work stress, then take note of the following:
• Headache
• Upset stomach
• Irritability
• Poor concentration
• Low sense of morale
• Disturbances in sleep
• Poor relations with coworkers, bosses, friends, and family
All of these signs are easy to detect. However, whether you believe or not, there are some chronic health problems that people suffering from excessive work stress may suffer. Included in the list are:
• Mental or psychological disorders
• Cardiovascular disease
• Musculoskeletal conditions
Given these signs and health problem possibilities, there’s nothing better for every concerned person to find some ways to eliminate the problem. Both the employers and employees are required to participate on this. What are expected for them to do is mentioned below, so continue reading.
Reducing Work Stress: What EMPLOYERS Can Do?
Stress in the workplace often means high costs for employers. As expected, they don’t want this to happen, the reason that businesses and institutions are recommended to do certain things that will help eliminate the signs of stress and then increase the productivity of their workers, of course, for greater earnings. To achieve this aim, here are two effective ways to start with:
• Stress Managements Trainings and Programs
• Organizational Adjustments
Let’s take a closer look to each of these techniques:
Stress Management Trainings and Programs
According to several surveys and researches, almost every company and institution in the United States are developing and conduction a number of stress management programs and trainings for their workers to attend. These trainings are basically designed to help the workers realize and tackle their personal problems that may are creating the largest impact on their work productivity or performance.
Commonly included in these programs and trainings are the following:
• Counseling
• Workshops regarding relaxation and time management
• Referrals and mental health assessments
• Financial and legal assistance
The programs and trainings may vary depending on what the company is trying to achieve. They may also differ according to certain requirements, and of course, to the expected results they carry.
Organizational Adjustments
While conducting stress management trainings can be helpful for the workers, the degree of relief they provide for work stress can be a bit short lived. This will hold true especially when the factors that trigger stress in the workplace to occur are not tackled. So to cover the problems that the stress management trainings can’t handle, considering an institutional change may help. This is one good way to ensure that stress reduction in the workplace will be obtained.
There are a lot of things that a company can do to promote change. The most important so far is to make or encourage people working in the company to participate on the adjustment from the bottom up. They should be part of the policy making and their needs must be addressed to the best way possible. In this case, the employees will be encouraged to do their own best for their own sake.
The communication between the members of the company must also be improved. For instance, their responsibilities and roles must be defined clearly, and the communication from workers to bosses must be friendly and efficient, not petty. And, since the workers themselves often expect good returns from their hard work, incentives or rewards must be offered.The employees must, of course, be valued.
Reducing Work Stress: What EMPLOYEES Can Do?
So the side of the employers is also stressed and explained. Now, let us know specifically what employees can do to reduce or eliminate work stress.
Here are some of the options you can try:
•Know Your Own Position and Decide on What You Think is Best – Before getting a job, it is expected from the applicants to know their positions in a company they will be dealing with. So if the company hasn’t provided you a specific description of your work, then ask and be sure to obtain one. Negotiate and object if needed. Part of this task is deciding on whether to stay with the company or not.
If you find your job to be stressful, then ask if they can do something to at least minimize the pressure caused by the nature of your work. You can also get support from certain agencies, and if the level of stress had exceeded to something unhealthy for you already, then it’s time to back off and find a new work.
•Learn to Ignore Your Self-Defeating Habits – Most of the workers suffer from excessive stress because of certain behaviors that tend to be self-defeating. Perfectionism is one. If this behavior is innate to you, then try to turn your back from it. Note that no situation or project is perfect.
The good thing for you to do then is just to do your best. Whatever you can do, be happy with the result. It would be best if you’ll set a good plan and stick to your schedule. And, don’t forget to always think positive. That too can help.
•Treat Yourself a Break – One good way to manage work stress is to consider a break every time stress is building up. Take a walk or sit on where you’ll feel comfortable.You can also do some exercises. If you want to share your stress with your office mate, then do so.
Talk it out if possible, and ask for help if you can’t manage it on your own. And, why not break through with a big laugh? This is needed especially when people around you are getting too serious. Laughing is a great medicine, I tell you.
As you may realize, stress in the workplace is no laughing matter. It is serious that it has its own bothering effects that both employers and employees must address. The best way to do to make everything in the workplace running smoothly is then to be aware of what both parties, employers and employees, are expecting to get from each other. And, although work stress is labeled as a “worldwide epidemic” affecting both the workers and the bosses alike, parties involved should find ways to eliminate stress. There’s no room for surrendering here.
